Shell Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SHEL)

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 30,798 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 337% compared to the average volume of 7,051 call options.

Shell Trading Up 0.3 %

SHEL opened at $72.98 on Wednesday. Shell has a 12-month low of $55.78 and a 12-month high of $73.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $68.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.09.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.688 per share. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SHEL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Shell from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Securities raised their target price on Shell from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Shell from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

Institutional Trading of Shell

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Shell by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,087,703 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,872,666,000 after acquiring an additional 6,554,340 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Shell by 162.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,763,562 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $113,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092,670 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its position in shares of Shell by 83.2% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,187,872 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $146,675,000 after buying an additional 993,342 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Shell by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,325,276 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $350,403,000 after buying an additional 885,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Shell by 10.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,742,878 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $562,866,000 after acquiring an additional 848,104 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Shell

Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and Rest of the Americas. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure to deliver gas to market.